More and more people are opting to go into business today, and the most viable idea is to become a third-party seller on Amazon. Third-party sellers account for 58% of Amazon sales. There are four reasons why it has been so easy for sellers to get a piece of the pie while selling on Amazon.

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Small investment 

No money tree? No problem.

Do you have a money tree in your backyard? Neither do I. You need minimal investment to start a business on Amazon. You can basically get your feet wet, get comfortable in the water before taking the big plunge. For many sellers who now have six-digit income from their Amazon sales, the venture started as a side project, with a small investment. You can start out with as little as $500. As businesses go, risking $500, is much easier than to come up with millions to go into startups, portfolios, real estate. 

Initially, you can sell as an individual. In this plan, you can sell 40 or fewer items. The up-front cost is low, a $0.99 per sale. Then as you get familiar with the methods and market, you can upgrade to a Professional plan and can sell more than 40 items. The cost is $39.99 per month plus a percentage of your sales. If you choose to become an FBA seller, there are additional costs. 

Infrastructure is already there

The hardest thing you have to do is come up with popular and in-demand items to sell. Putting them up for sale is fairly simple. For a seller, Amazon’s most important area is the Seller Central. Type in the ISBN, UPC, EAN, or ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). ASIN is a 10-character alphanumeric unique identifier that’s assigned by Amazon.com and its partners. It is primarily used for product identification within their product catalog. For example, B07WGMRD1F is the ASIN for Seiko men’s analog watch.

Amazon listing for ASIN B07WGMRD1F

When you type in the ASIN, the Amazon system pulls up all the relevant information. They provide the image, description, current market price, etc. 

Amazon growth rate for 2019 was 20%

Amazon has, in the last couple of years, started offering ads. It would be an additional cost. You can do pretty well without them. Amazon search should suffice for starters. Once your item sells, Amazon notifies you. Ship the order promptly. If you do not ship in the time you have promised, Amazon may penalize you. I strongly recommend that you read up on the Amazon policies regarding their expectations about professionalism. And professionalism is the key to acquiring loyal customers. So, in the end, it is a win-win situation.

The world is your oyster

The spurt in online businesses and specifically Amazon is due to the shrinking of the world. Meaning, even if you are a small seller in a small town in Kansas (just sayin’), you can sell across the globe. Last year Amazon opened up a marketplace in Dubai. Amazon already has marketplaces in Europe, Australia, India, and Brazil.

Conversely, when you need merchandise, you can buy from almost anywhere in the world. The online merchandise providers have also improved in the last five years. They have become more reliable in delivering wares on time and as expected.  

Tools abound

As Amazon grew, more and more businesses sprouted up that cater to Amazon sellers’ needs. There are huge annual conferences geared explicitly towards Amazon sellers. Many, many Facebook groups provide forums to learn and exchange experiences about selling on Amazon. There are software tools to find the best items to sell, help you list, help you manage feedback, do accounting, etc. One of the essential aspects is repricing. 

Repricing

The repricing tool, monitors your competitors’ prices and then adjusts your prices accordingly. That is the most simplistic way of defining repricing. Alpha Repricer has developed it into an art. We monitor prices continuously so we can respond to price change from your competitor at any time.

Moreover, you can schedule your repricing to start or stop at specific times to keep up with the competition. Our users can fine-tune their settings to either compete with the lowest price or with the Buy Box. Your prices can go up or down. Most of our users tend to compete with the Buy Box, the place to be. 

As times have changed, more and more people are trusting the online experience, not to mention that they find it more convenient. Amazon is ubiquitous in that a buyer can find anything there. So it is fast becoming the first site to turn to in search of an item. The e-retail has broadened the horizons of the smaller seller. The scope for finding your niche in the e-retail is facilitated by the ability to sell on Amazon. It is also a boost that one does not have to mortgage the house to go into business. In fact, you can run the business out of your home. Then if all goes well, you will have a money tree in your backyard. 

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